Title

Antimicrobial activity of Cucumis melo silver nanoparticles against oral pathogens

Authors

Deborah Vasanthakumar*, Srividhya Srinivasan & K. Saraswathi Gopal

Affiliation

Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College and Hospital, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education & Research, Chennai, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Deborah Vasanthakumar - E-mail: 23219001@madch.edu.in; Phone: +91 9360846215
Srividhya Srinivasan - E-mail: drsrividhya.omrd@madch.edu.in
K. Saraswathi Gopal - E-mail: dr.saraswathik@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received September 1, 2026; Revised September 30, 2026; Accepted September 30, 2026, Published September 30, 2026

Abstract

Increasing antimicrobial resistance among oral pathogens necessitates the development of alternative eco-friendly antimicrobial agents. Cucumis melo pericarp extract was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles, which were characterized using UV-Visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans was assessed using agar well diffusion and time-kill assays at concentrations of 25, 50 and 100 µg/mL. A characteristic absorption peak at 390 nm confirmed nanoparticle synthesis and concentration-dependent antimicrobial activity was observed, with maximum efficacy at 100 µg/mL. Thus, data shows that Cucumis melo-mediated silver nanoparticles are potential eco-friendly antimicrobial agents for oral healthcare applications.

Keywords

Cucumis melo, dental caries, periodontitis, candidiasis, oral pathogens

Citation

Vasanthakumar et al. Bioinformation 22(9): 5771-5775 (2026)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.